


Monday Afternoon.

by the-canary (siruru)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Awkward Flirting, Car Accidents, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Nurses & Nursing, Pokemon References, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Teasing, Time Skips, Unresolved Romantic Tension, brief meetings, political science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 10:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17743778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siruru/pseuds/the-canary
Summary: There was only one decent thing about the nursing department, not that he noticed you anyways.





	Monday Afternoon.

**Author's Note:**

> This is for @fangirlfiction ‘s 1k writing challenge. i went to a women’s college with one exception, the music/nursing program – this oneshot steams from some of those experiences, just without a bucky ;A: however, i hope you enjoy.
> 
> Prompt: What’s her name again?

**First year.**

It’s that time of year for any college freshman — the first week of your classes  _ ever _ . You print out all the syllabus and pack them neatly into the folder you have set aside for all your classes. You are expecting a lot of wonderful things from the extra freedom this stage has promised to set up for you. 

What you didn’t expect was for your second class to be canceled in the middle of the afternoon with the professor wanting a one-pager of  _ what does democracy mean to you? _

Written outside and placed in her inbox, any emailed essays were going to ignored. Your Pol Sci 100 class was small, so you didn’t expect many would be in the library at this time — it gave you ample time to write it out and find Dr. Hill’s office on the fifth floor. 

You weren’t expecting the pre-nursing and bio students to be pilling onto top of the only two printers the library had — teenagers, excited and confused, like you printing out 100 pages of powerpoint presentations before their classes started. You end up on one of the computers near the large stained glass windows, watching for a moment before going to work on this one sheet of paper.

Between looking through your social media and cat videos, it takes you two hours to finish said paper. 

You’re ready to print it out when you and the rest of the library hear it — the horrible whirling from the printer as it seems to come to life, spilling papers in front of the poor boy standing next to it before dying completely.

“Sorry,” he lets a nervous chuckle as one of the older students workers and one of the librarians come up to him and ask what he did. There are a handful of people waiting for their papers to print, but after half an hour, the librarian places the sign --  _ out of order  _ in front of both computers. 

You sigh, unsure of what to do now to get out your paper that is due by the end of the class period, though you feel a little bad for the boy with blue eyes shuffling his feet near the corner as you get your things and search for where you can find another printer. However, not before going to the one person that caused this disaster that had been accumulated by everyone else before hand. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” is all you can say, as you stand a bit closer while seeing some people glaring daggers at him, “Probably happens all the time.” 

“Thanks,” he states bashfully with a shrug, as you nod and move forward. 

Eventually, you do find a printer in one of the common areas and through some careful maneuvering you are able to turn in the page before 6pm. You also do find out that the printer busting at least once is a common occurrence during the fall semester -- and that everyone hates the nursing students for that one reason.

* * *

The second time you meet Old Blue Eyes is during your Pol Sci 101 class. Wanda --the one friend you made during freshman orientation-- sits in back of you as Dr. Carter talks about the different structures of democracy and the broader political systems of the world. 

“Mr. Barnes,” she declares in cold fury towards the back of the class as most of you turn to stare, “Would you mind stating some of differences between the structure of Congress and Parliament?”  

Blue eyes look up from what he was doing -- chatting with a pretty girl as the rest of the nursing students who hung in the back look at him. You had a little understanding of why they did so, but though you understood that nursing was the biggest major by far within the school, you didn’t understand why they all kept to themselves and barely interacted in any of the general education classes that you with some younger and older nursing majors. 

James --from what you had learned from looking at all your class rosters-- gets up and smiles before going through the list like the back of his hand. Dr. Carter gives him a sardonic smile before going on with her lecture. The cocksure boy grins before sitting back down, glancing at the whole classroom. His eyes meet yours for just a moment as a crooked smile blooms on his face before he goes back to talking to the pretty brunette next to him.

You think nothing of it, as you go back to taking your notes.

* * *

**Second Year.**

Your second year of classes is more easier to handle than your first, though you aren’t without your late night binges to complete a paper in the middle of the semester here and there. At the current moment, you are watching Wanda and Natasha --a friend you made in that strange religion class you both needed for course credit-- dive into their books for the individual finals. You were sitting at the end of the table without nothing in front of you as you took out a smaller case than usual. 

“Are you really going to play 3DS right now?” Natasha questions with mix of shock and anger, as you give her a bright smile before turning on the little game device. Wanda simply shakes her head. 

In reality, you had completed the most frustrating finals -- your general ed courses, but Pol Sci as confusing as it could be sometimes, it came to you with ease. You could remember years and theories, top it with some fake, deep meaning to it all and you did well in filling up those little green books when it came time to for finals. It wasn’t like it was math or bio, which you scrapped by most of the time. 

“I’m trying to defeat the last member of the Elite Four,” you whine, as Nat rolls her green eyes and throws her eraser in your general direction. You move out of the way and the three of you see it hit a familiar boy. You turn around completely in your chair, as James picks up the eraser from the floor and hands it to you. 

“I hope it isn’t Karen and her Houndoom,” he chuckles as you frown at the mention of the character, as Nat and Wanda watch, obviously ignoring their finals for something juicer. 

“I ran the floor with her last night,” you laugh, thinking about the aneurism the Pokemon leader had nearly given you, due to playing until the middle of the night just to beat her. 

And even though James looked like he hadn’t slept in two or three nights, his comment was enough to make you laugh just a little. In return, his face seemed to lose some of its fatigue as those laugh lines come out with his chuckle.

“Well, good luck with beating Lance then,” James says with a smile before some girls in the back call his name. 

“Good luck with your exams,” you answer back with a nod before going back to the game at hand, completely ignoring the flabbergasted looks that Wanda and Nat give you.   

* * *

Second semester is a bit harder than the first with more Pol Sci classes than before and both Dr. Carter and Dr. Hill realizing the good head that you have on your shoulders, even though you stay silent and in the back during most of their classes. Though, it also means solely evening and afternoon classes, as you wake around noon now more than ever. 

However, you end up waking up right before class starts as you end running across the courtyard to the humanities building, only to notice the nursing students standing in front of the entrance with tables and edible goods in front of you. You stop and notice the badly painted sign:  **NURSING ASSOCIATION FUNDRAISER.**

You skipping out on going to the cafeteria makes you pause and glance at all the food until you see the small packaged meals of mini-pancakes with a side of fluffy eggs. You keep staring it as your stomach rumbles.

“‘S my ma’s recipe,” a voice in front of you declare, as you look up to see James with a toothy smile and a brunette (maybe the same one from that one semester?) hanging off his shoulder. And while the sight causes you to pause for a moment, you can’t help but ask. 

“And what makes them so special?” you question, as he gives you a cheeky grin, “That I should buy two...maybe even three boxes?” 

“Fluffiest pancakes you’ll ever taste,” he teases back, which causes you to laugh. Blue eyes never leave your face, as you agree to buy some. 

“If they aren’t the up to standard, I’m coming back to complain,” you state already walking away and heading into the hallway of the fifth floor. 

“If it happens, I look forward to seeing you again,” James grins as he watches you disappear.

And while he’s disappointed he doesn’t see you for the rest of the semester, he surely does hope you enjoyed the meal.

* * *

**Third Year.**

You don’t see much of the main campus that semester since you are working in an internship straight in the heart of downtown and take most of your courses online as a result. You end up taking a mini course in the middle of the semester and spend the rest of your time in D.C as a result. 

James doesn’t see much of the campus after his accident during the summer either.

* * *

You are sure that the Pol Sci department in some way has gotten more funding, either that or Dr. Hill had too much free time on her hands when she decides that there will be mock debates in lieu of it being on election year --  _ so that the young people will be excited to go out and vote _ , she declares. You aren’t sure why but she has you sign up for it, though you are more than fine with helping the mock presidential candidate in learning her lines. 

It doesn’t help when she ends up getting sick two days before and the only one that knows everything is you. 

“Please don’t make me do this,” you groan as Wanda just shakes her head, though you might be complaining she had seen you more than once in mock debate -- this were all just jitters. 

“I think most of your department and I know you can do it,” Wanda reassures you with a smile and though you don’t believe her -- you tell Dr. Hill that you’ll do it anyways. 

On the day of, you don’t expect the old auditorium to be so jammed packed with students, but apparently this had been promoted for weeks and some classes were even giving extra credit for it. You took a deep breath and ran through your candidate’s lists of arguments while rebuffing the other young women’s. For most of the time, you blank out and you don’t notice that most of the young women and Dr. Hill are grinning from ear to ear, the audience is enthralled with everything -- though one man in particular can’t seem to keep his eyes of you.

“ _ What’s her name again _ ?” the now buffer man with long brown-hair sitting near the back of the auditorium can’t help but question as your voice lulls some sense of peace into him, though you are fiercely defending your stance on a political issue that Bucky wasn’t really paying attention to.

* * *

You don’t know exactly how you ended up staying in the dorms, but between Wanda freaking out over her oral exam and you needing to stay a bit later than usual for a UN module -- it lead to you sleeping some hours on the floor of Wanda’s dorm room. However, it wasn’t the same as your bed which leads to you wondering around the campus for a moment, hoping that the communal cafeteria is still open in the middle of the night. 

As secluded as the campus was, you still screamed a little at the sight of a man at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the new constructed fountain. It seems that he hear you come up, as he turns around and you are quick notice familiar blue eyes, though he is much bigger and now has slightly longer hair compared to the last time you had seen him.

  
“James?” you question softly, as you notice that he is sitting there by his lonesome as he answers back with the sound of your own name. He ends up getting up and for some unknown reason you have the urge to follow, “I haven’t seen you in awhile.” 

“I saw your mock debate a few weeks ago,” he declares, turning around to look at you as he comes to sit on one of the edges of the fountain, “You were really good.” 

“Oh,” you state a bit surprised, “Thank you, and how have you been?” 

“Insomnia and phantom pain here and there,” he states with a sardonic smile, while moving his left shoulder back and forth.  You end up taking a seat next to him. However, instead of asking why and giving him a look full of pity, you simply nod and ask him: 

_ “So what’s on your mind?”  _

Your question makes him pause of a moment, as you cock your head to the side in question. James had always known there was something that had always caught his attention when it came to you, but in that moment -- you simply staying quiet and being willing to listen grabs at his heartstrings as he talks about anything that comes to mind -- his family, his studies, Stevie, and even his accident if only vaguely. 

And you just listen without a word being said, something he hadn’t had in a very long time is such a huge relief as he lets it all out. The only time you finally do ask something is when he is talking about his current courses. He had come back to have some sense of normally in his life, but he just couldn’t keep it up anymore.           

“So why did you end up choosing coming here anyways?” you can’t help but ask as James’ eyes glimmer in the lights surrounding the fountain. He pauses for a moment, playing with the water as he notices that the sun is starting to come up. 

“Gotta be here for my ma, Becca, and Stevie,” he admits shyly, as he looks up at the sky as if embarrassed, “But now...I’m not so sure.”  

“I’m sure, you’ll find something you love, James,” you declare like it’s the easiest thing in the world, but as he stares at you with the first rays of morning light hitting your face -- he really wants to believe you.

* * *

**Fourth Year.**

“We’re sure he likes you,” Nat declares over lunch as she points her fork at you. You raise an eyebrow in confusion as Wanda shakes her head -- you weren’t sure how Nat complaining about her Statistics and Methodology class turned into her declaring Bucky liked you. 

Since that night a few months back, James had turned into Bucky as he sought you out more outside of class. After deciding he was going to take an extra year to complete his degree with taking summer classes, he sought you to tell you the news and then whenever he saw  you in the library. Sometimes, you even had lunch together. You had even gone on the little shuttle for a weekend together here and there. You had even meet Steve -- an art student who was finishing his own schooling upstate. But, you were sure you were only doing it as friends, Bucky didn’t see you  _ that way. _

“You don’t see the way he looks at you,” Wanda smile, “But, we do.” 

“I think you’re making too much of this,” you bite back, “He’s always been with that Dot girl, I saw them together the other day.” 

“Because they’re in the same class,” Nat decides to fight off your bluff, “They haven’t been together since the end of second year.” 

“Guys, seriously,” you let out a nervous laugh,”You’re putting too much thought into this.”

You get up from the table with a shake of your head before heading towards your only class for the day. They wait two seconds before they hear the sound of your name being called out loud by a familiar voice. Your two friends look at each other before shaking their heads at how foolish you were being.

* * *

The last final of your college career is on the fifth floor like always and aside from seeing Wanda in the morning, you are alone re-reading the book that is at the center of your final exam. The library is silent with the lack of students who have already finished their finals and have headed home, but you enjoy it as you sit near one of the large windows where you started this crazy chapter of your life to begin with. 

The afternoon test passes you too quickly, as you end up standing in the hallway as one of the first people to finish the exam. The fifth floor was quieter than usual with no music playing and no students coming in and out of the small rooms. You walk around, enjoying the silence for the moment. Your head in the clouds and memories until you see someone waiting at the end of the hallway

“Bucky,” you declare with a soft smile, as he can’t help but return it. You ignore that he might have been watching you, “What are you doing here exactly? Aren’t your exams done with?” 

You knew that Bucky had finished his exams since Thursday and he had moved out already to go back with his mom and Becca for the summer. So, you weren’t sure why he was here, even if Nat and Wanda wouldn’t stop declaring his supposed intentions since the beginning of the year.

“Waiting for you actually,” Bucky smiles as the two of you start to walk out and look at the emptying campus, though it was a bit more somber for you -- Bucky still had another semester here, you didn’t. 

“I--” Bucky coughs out, as you turn to stare at him. The familiar nervousness from a boy you had tried to calm down four years ago more evident now than in any time you had known James, “If you wanted to celebrate the end of the semester with me...just you and me.” 

“As in a date?” you question, somewhere between hope and despair over what your friends had been telling you, what Bucky was trying to actually mean, and your own personal feelings about the whole thing. 

“Yeah, a d-date,” he stutters for just a second before giving you a bashful grin. 

You end up grabbing his right arm and give him the brightest smile you can muster: “A date sounds perfect, Mr. Barnes.” 

He laughs at your bad imitation of Dr. Carter before taking you down to where his car is parked. And as your college years come to an end one fine Monday afternoon, you can’t to see what life has in-store for you with Bucky at your side.         


End file.
